Alaska Legislature: Joint Legislative Council, 8/25/26, 11am

I'm going to call this meeting of the Joint Legislative Council to order on August 25, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. Ms. Geary, it says 11:00 a.m. It's actually noon. Ms. Geary, please take the roll call. Representative Carrick.

Here. Speaker Edgeman. Here. Representative Johnson.

Representative Kopp. Jonathan Strong. I can't talk to him.

Representative Kopp.

Representative Schraggy. Here. Representative Stutes. Here.

Senator Giesel.

Senator Gray Jackson. Honored to be here. Senator Hoffman.

Senator Keele. Here. Senator Steadman.

Senator Steadman.

Senator Tobin. Here.

Vice Chair Stevens. Chair Hannon. Here. 8 Members present. With 8 members present, we do have a quorum to conduct business.

And I— before we went on the record, I did say here at the table, I know that we are going— and I apologize for the delay. We had October fog in Juneau this morning.

And we are going to lose a couple of members shortly after 1:00, so we want to proceed and get as far as we can on the agenda. And our first few items are lease extensions. So I'm going to call for a motion to approve our agenda. Senator Gray Jackson. Thank you, Madam Chair.

I move and ask unanimous consent that the Legislative Council approve the agenda as presented. Are there any objections? Hearing no objections, the agenda is approved. The first item on there is the approval of the minutes from our June 17th meeting. Senator Gray Jackson, do we have a motion?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move and ask unanimous consent that Legislative Council approve the minutes dated June 17, 2026, as presented. Hearing and seeing no objections, The minutes are approved.

That brings us to our first action item, committee business, Homer office lease space lease renewal number 2. Senator Gray Jackson. Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Legislative Council approve renewal number 2 of the lease extension with Resolute Ventures LLC for Homer office space in the amount of $58,591.80.

I'm both going to object for purpose of discussion and call for a brief at ease.

Back in order. We are back in order. So we have a motion before us. And I am going to ask procurement officer JC Kestel to come forward and provide information on Mr. Zuckerman, please make this motion on the Homer lease.

Thank you, Chair Hannan, and members of the Committee. In your packet is a memo pertaining to the Homer office space and LIO lease extension request. This lease extension is approaching the end of the first renewal of the lease extension on October 31st, and the agency is seeking to obtain approval for a 1-year renewal from November 1st through October 31st, 2027. This lease does exceed $50,000 threshold annually, so therefore Legislative Council's approval is required, and I'm happy to answer any questions. Are there any questions from the members at the table?

Are there any questions from members online about the Homer lease extension?

Hearing and seeing none, I'm going to remove my objection and ask Ms. Geary to call the roll.

Representative Carrick. Yes. Speaker Edgeman. Yes. Representative Kopp.

Representative Schraggy. Yes. Representative Stutes.

Yes. Senator Gray Jackson. Yes. Senator Keele. Yes.

Senator Steadman.

Senator Tobin. Yes. Chair Hannon. Yes. 8 Yeas, 0 nays.

With 8 yeas and 0 nays, the motion has been approved. Senator Gray Jackson, our next motion is on the Kodiak office space lease renewal number 4. Can we please have the motion? Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Legislative Council approve renewal number 4 of the lease extension with PSKFC Investments, LLC, for Kodiak office space in an amount of $71,605.56.

And I'm going to object for purposes of discussion and ask Mr. Kestel to again provide us information about this RFP or this renewal. Thank you, Chair Hannan. Much like the last renewal, this one is for the Kodiak office space in LIO. This would be the third— I'm sorry, fourth renewal of the lease extension up there if approved by the Council, and it's for the period of November 1st, 2026 through October 31st, 2027. And I'm happy to answer any questions.

Are there any questions from members at the table? Are there any questions from members online about the Kodiak office space renewal?

Hearing and seeing none, I'm going to remove my objection and ask Ms. Geary to please call the roll. Representative Carrick.

Yes. Speaker Edgeman. Yes.

Representative Kopp.

Representative Schraggy. Yes. Representative Stutes. Yes. Senator Gray Jackson.

Yes. Senator Keele. Yes. Senator Steadman.

Senator Tobin. Yes. Chair Hannon. Yes. 8 Yeas, 0 nays.

So with 8 yeas and 0 nays, the motion has passed. That brings us to our next item, um, the Anchorage Legislative Office Building snow removal contract renewal number 5. Senator Gray Jackson. Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Legislative Council approve renewal number 5 of the contract with Kelly Inc., DBA A-1 Lawn and Landscaping for snow removal services at the Anchorage Legislative Office Building in the amount not to exceed $65,000.

And I again am going to object for purposes of discussion and see if there are any questions from the table.

And turning online, are there any questions from the members online?

With that, seeing none, I'm going to remove my objection and ask Ms. Geary to call the roll on the motion. Representative Carrick.

Yes. Speaker Edgeman. Yes. Representative Schraggy. Yes.

Representative Stutes. Yes. Senator Gray Jackson. Yes. Senator Keele.

Yes. Senator Tobin. Yes. Chair Hannan. Yes.

8 Yeas, 0 nays. With 8 yeas and 0 nays, the motion has passed. Passed. That brings us to Anchorage Legislative Office Building janitorial contract renewal number 5. Senator Gray Jackson.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Legislative Council approve renewal number 5 of the contract with Q1 Services LLC for janitorial services at the Anchorage Legislative Office Building in an amount not to exceed $56,000. I'm going to object for purpose of discussion. Turn to the table, see if there are any questions. Turn online if there are any questions.

Brief at ease. I'm going to take a brief at ease.

We're back online. Mr. Kestel, could you please describe this renewal? Sure thing. Thank you, Chair Hannon. Uh, this renewal is for the, um, upcoming year of September 1st, 2026 through August 31st, 2027.

This is the final renewal available in this contract. It's for the janitorial services in this building. Um, it does— we, we request a not to exceed of $56,000 annually for this contract, so therefore Legislative Council's approval is required. All right. Now, are there any questions from members?

And turning online, are there any questions from members?

Seeing none, I'm going to remove my objection and ask Ms. Geary to please call the roll. Representative Carrick?

Yes. Speaker Edgman? Yes. Representative Schraggy. Yes.

Representative Stutes.

Yes. Senator Gray Jackson. Yes. Senator Keele. Yes.

Senator Tobin. Yes. Chair Hannon. Yes. 8 Yeas, 0 nays.

With 8 yeas and 0 nays, the motion has been adopted. That brings us to a KTOO contract approval. Senator Grey Jackson. Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Legislative Council approve the contract with KTOO Public Media for Gavel Alaska coverage in an amount not to exceed $851,400.

And I'm going to object for purpose of discussion and ask Chief Technology and Outreach Officer Tim Powers to provide information and take questions. We also have in the room with us Justin Shoman, who is President and General Manager of KTOO Public Media, and he is available if we have other questions. Mr. Powers. Good afternoon, members of Legislative Council.

Thank you for hearing this today. My name is Tim Powers. I'm the Chief Technology and Outreach Officer for Legislative Affairs Agency. I'm presenting today a contract with KTOO, who has provided longstanding public service in broadcast of the legislature by means of gavel-to-gavel coverage of the House and Senate floor sessions and committee meetings. They are essential for transparency for the legislature, for the public in this state, and due to the loss of federal funding last year, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting cut, KTO approached the legislature to secure funding to provide this service continuing.

The legislature has already appropriated this money in the budget cycle this last year. We did use a sole source justification, Section 040 exemption for this procurement. KTO has unmatched infrastructure. They already possess the technological setup, the broadcast equipment, and the institutional knowledge and have a working agreement with the legislature that's spanned for over a decade already. It's impractical to put this out for competitive bid.

Transitioning to a new vendor would require costly duplication of infrastructure and risk disruptive delays to service that the public relies on. Because this contract value exceeds $50,000 in a single fiscal year, Council action is required to approve the contract.

Thank you. Are there any questions from members at the table?

Are there any questions from members online?

Hearing and seeing no questions, I'm going to remove my objection. Ms. Geary, please call the roll on the motion. Representative Carrick.

Yes. Speaker Edgeman. Yes. Representative Schraggy. Yes.

Representative Stutes.

Senator Gray Jackson. Yes. Senator Keel. Yes. Senator Tobin.

Yes. Chair Hannon. Yes. 8 Yeas, 0 nays. With 8 yeas and 0 nays, the motion has been adopted.

We are now going to call for an executive session to discuss an update on the animals in legislative facilities policy and the Alaska State Capitol parking garage renovation.

Evaluation RFP 687.

Senator Gray Jackson, do we have a motion for executive session? Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Legislative Council go into executive session under Uniform Rule 22, discussion of matters, the immediate knowledge of which would be adverse— which would adversely affect the finances of a government unit, and 22, discussion of a matter that may by law be required to be confidential. The following people may remain in the room or online for the executive session: Jessica Gary, Sabrina Javier, JC Kestel, Tim Powers, Serge Less, Stacy Bentley, Emily Nelman, Megan Wallace, and any legislators not on Legislative Council and any staff of Legislative Council members. Okay, we're going to take a brief at ease and transition to executive session.

I'm going to call the legislative council meeting back to order. Ms. Geary, we need to reestablish post-executive session our quorum, so please call the roll again. Representative Carrick.

Speaker:KELLY] Here. Speaker Edgeman. Here. Representative Schraggi. Here.

Representative Stutes. Here. Senator Gray Jackson. Honored to be here. Senator Keele.

Here. Senator Tobin. Here. Chair Hannan. Here.

8 Members present. With 8 members present, we've maintained a quorum. We're going to turn once again to RFP 687, the Capital parking garage renovation RFP. Senator Gray Jackson, can we have a motion? Thank you, Madam Chair.

I move that Legislative Council approve the award of RFP 687 to Dawson Alas Inc. in an amount not to exceed $675,000. And I'm going to object for purpose of discussion and ask Procurement Officer J.C. Kestel to provide information and take any questions. Yes. Thank you, Chair Hannan and members of the Committee. For the record, J.C. Kestel, Procurement Officer for the Legislative Affairs Agency.

On May 18th, the Legislative Affairs Agency issued RFP 687 to solicit proposals from contractors to renovate the Capitol parking garage. The RFP closed August 5th with 2 proposals received, one from Dawson Inc., Alaska Inc., and Island Contractors Inc. A Proposal Evaluation Committee scored the proposals and awarded points to each proposal. Dawson Alaska Incorporated received a total score of 961.67 points, while Island Contractors received a total score of 704.68 points. Based on the evaluation scores, the PEC recommends awarding RFP 687 to Dawson Alaska Incorporated, and I'm happy to to answer any questions members may have.

Are there any questions from members at the table?

Any questions from members online?

Seeing and hearing none, I'm going to remove my objection and ask Ms. Geary to please call the roll on the motion. Representative Carrick.

Um, sorry, Madam Chair, can we please restate the motion again? Because I thought we had a proposed amendment that was going to come forward. We're on the parking garage amendment. Oh, I am so sorry. Do we need to recall the roll?

No, you are the— you are the first person on the roll call for the parking garage RFP 687.

Yeah. Thank you. Speaker Edgeman. Yes. Representative Schraggy.

Yes. Representative Stutes.

Yes. Senator Gray Jackson. Yes. Senator Keele. Yes.

Senator Tobin. Yes. Chair Hannan. Yes. 8 Yeas, 0 nays.

With 8 yeas and 0 nays, the motion has passed. That brings us to our policy on animals in legislative facilities. Senator Gray Jackson, do we have a motion? Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Legislative Council adopt the revised Animals in Legislative Facilities Policy as presented on August 25th, 2026.

And I'm going to object for discussion and questions and ask Ms. Bentley to summarize the policy revisions and take any questions.

Thank you, Chair Hannon and members of the Legislative Council. For the record, my name is Stacy Bentley. I am the HR manager for Legislative Affairs Agency. So the policy before you is to update the legislature's 2007 Animals in Legislative Facilities Policy. The updates ensure the legislature's policy aligns with current ADA requirements.

The policy provides clear guidance for legislative staff regarding service animals. The policy clarifies what questions staff may ask when the need for a service animal is not obvious. Many, many existing operational provisions remain unchanged. Handlers remain responsible for supervision, sanitation, and any property damage caused by an animal. The legislature remains— retains authority to remove unauthorized animals or animals that do not meet policy requirements.

Under the removal of service animal section, the ADA definition of out of control will be used, which includes barking or noise. Disturbances. The policy distinguishes between the public access, which is Title II, and the employee workplace accommodation, which is Title I. The legislators and employees who require service animals in the workplace would utilize the ADA accommodation process, which is in the policy, which is again under Title I. So if adopted, the proposed policy will replace the Animals in Legislative Facilities policy adopted by Ledge Council February 1st, 2007.

All right. Members. Representative Sharagi. Yeah. Thank you, Chair Hannan.

And thank you to our director for her work on this policy. I really appreciate the work that's been done to update this and bring it into compliance with some of the federal changes. That we've seen and also our experience in the legislature. I have just one change that I would like to propose. And with that, I'd like to move an amendment to the policy.

And that amendment would be to strike the words "or birds" on page 1. I know that our policy allows for the removal of birds if they create an allergen issue or some other criteria here. But I would personally prefer that we keep the workplace focused on work and make sure that we do not have this issue occur where someone then has to complain and go through a process to have the bird removed. I don't see there being a benefit in allowing birds as an exception. So I put that amendment on the table for consideration by the committee.

Okay. So now we have before us an amendment to the policy and we're open for discussion. Senator Keehl. Madam Chair. Thank you, Madam Chair.

I appreciate the intention. I'm going to— I'm going to oppose this amendment. I think the policy is well-written enough to let us remove anything disruptive. But leaves open the opportunity for animals in especially non-legislative offices. These policies govern the entirety of the Legislative Affairs Agency.

It's not just individual legislators' members' offices.

We have a history of having a little finch in somebody's office across the street, And so I, I don't think that we need to have a baseline of total exclusion to have professional office spaces. The way the policy is written gives us the ability to deal with a problem. If somebody's got a squawking parrot that never shuts up, we can handle that. So appreciate it, but I think the amendment just goes a little farther than we need to. Much appreciated.

Further discussion? Madam Chair. Representative Stutes. Thank you, Madam Chair. Appreciate the opportunity.

I support this. I think that it's a whole lot easier to have something in the policy than it is to, in retrospect, say, well, is this covered or is that covered? I think the clearer the policy, the easier the enforcement. So I'm, I'm certainly supportive of this amendment, and I thank the maker of this amendment.

Further discussion?

Madam Chair, this is Rep. Carrick. Go ahead, Representative Carrick.

Um, yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I, um, I really appreciate Senator Keele had to say, and while I do support this amendment, I think what Senator Keele articulated is why I'll probably be striking a minority vote on not necessarily supporting the policy overall. I do think that there is potentially in the future space for a little bit more flexibility, but in so much as we are updating the policy, the policy should be extremely clear. And I think this amendment adds to the clarity that's in the underlying policy. So, just messaging in advance but some of the sentiments that senators feel expressed, but also want to make sure the policy is extremely clear.

All right, we're going to take a brief adieu.

Alright, we're back on the record. We have a motion to amend before us. With any further discussion? Madam Chair. Representative Edgeman.

Yeah, I— to Rep. Stutes' point, if in fact we don't have the 8 votes we need to do anything today on this issue, I would like to see it come back up because I agree. I am just sitting here thinking about other executive branch offices. I have never seen a bird in an office. Maybe they are bird— birds really aren't comfort animals as far as I can tell. And I might be treading in some thin ice here, but I think the policy should be clean, simple, and not put LA having to be in a position of measuring the wings of a bird or whatever they have to do to confirm whether it's providing comfort or not.

And because most birds, you know, would be considered, I guess, emotional support animals or companion animals or whatever they might be. So anyway, so I think this should come back up before the Council later on.

Further discussion?

All right. Well, we are going to take up then the motion to amend, and the motion to amend is to delete the words "or birds" on page 1 in the third from the bottom paragraph.

Ms. Geary, please call the roll. Representative Carrick. Yeah. Speaker Edgeman. Yes.

Representative Schraggy. Yes. Representative Stutes. Yes. Senator Gray Jackson.

Yes. Senator Keele. No. Senator Tobin.

Chair Hannon. Yes. 6 Yeas, 2 nays. With 6 yeas and 2 nays, the motion fails. Our policy is to require that we have 8 votes for an amendment to pass at ledge council.

All right. So that brings us back to the main motion, the policy as drafted and proposed. Is there further discussion?

Seeing and hearing. Madam Chair. Representative Tobin— excuse me, Senator Tobin and then Representative Carrick. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.

I just wanted to go to the definition of out of control that is on page 2 and just ask if we could have a little bit of clarity about the ADA definition of what that entails.

Ms. Bentley. I don't have it in front of me, but it does entail barking and noise disturbances.

Representative Carrick.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to comment that I would like to see this item postponed to the next meeting, but I also understand that this item has been moved a couple of times already. And there's a timeliness factor for getting this across the finish line. Um, a clear policy is definitely really important, but I do want to make note of the hesitation that I have that Senator Keel had spoken to regarding the Byrds Amendment we voted on, and just that I, I do think there's space in the future for the legislature to have more nuance. The Fairbanks Legislative Information Office is located in a dog-friendly building, so there are many animals in the facility, including meeting on the floor where the Fairbanks LIO is located.

And I, I don't necessarily think that, um, the policy needs to include nuance for that, but it is a consideration that in the future I think would be good to take up. So I would have liked sort of the ability to kind of vote my conscience on this a little bit, but I also really recognize the need for timeliness and clarity. So I appreciate the chair for letting me make those comments. Thank you, Representative Kerik. I believe we're ready for the roll call vote.

Ms. Geary, please call the roll. Representative Kerik.

Yes. Speaker Edgeman. Yes. Representative Schragg. Yes.

Representative Stutes. Yes. Senator Gray Jackson. Yes. Senator Keele.

Yes. Senator Tobin. Yes. Chair Hannon. Yes.

8 Yeas, 0 nays. With 8 yeas and 0 nays, the motion has passed. That brings us to the conclusion of our agenda. Motion to adjourn. Actually, I can just call for it.

With nothing further to come before the council, we are adjourned. At 1:15.